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Morecambe Bay Cockle Picking

Cockle picking on Morecambe Bay on 7th October 2019 in Flookburgh, Cumbria, United Kingdom. Hand-gathering of cockles has been a long-standing traditional fishery within Morecambe Bay for generations. When stocks are plentiful, cockle gathering is of great importance to the local economy and the local fishermen cockle all Winter from September to the end of April. Methods have changed little over the years. With a jumbo, a flat board about 5 ft long, the rocking motion turns wet sand to liquid and the cockles rise to the surface. The cockles are raked into buckets or net bags, put through a hand-held riddle whereby the undersize cockle is returned to the bed, and the size cockle then placed into 20-25kg cockle sacks. If cockles are scarce they are flicked out individually with a small three pronged fork called a craam.

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Tessa Bunney
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Cockle picking on Morecambe Bay on 7th October 2019 in Flookburgh, Cumbria, United Kingdom. Hand-gathering of cockles has been a long-standing traditional fishery within Morecambe Bay for generations. When stocks are plentiful, cockle gathering is of great importance to the local economy and the local fishermen cockle all Winter from September to the end of April. Methods have changed little over the years. With a jumbo, a flat board about 5 ft long, the rocking motion turns wet sand to liquid and the cockles rise to the surface. The cockles are raked into buckets or net bags, put through a hand-held riddle whereby the undersize cockle is returned to the bed, and the size cockle then placed into 20-25kg cockle sacks. If cockles are scarce they are flicked out individually with a small three pronged fork called a craam.
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